


Arcana Fantasy

by fieryhotaru



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Final Fantasy Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fieryhotaru/pseuds/fieryhotaru
Summary: Final Fantasy AU. Hotaru is an ex-SOLDIER trying to save the World from the evil corporation, Vesuvia, who wants to take energy from the planet's source of life, The Arcana. To do that, she will need the help of her friends, especially a doctor who also used to work for Vesuvia. Julian/MC rated for language and violence, rating might go up later
Relationships: Apprentice & Julian Devorak, Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Asra/Muriel (The Arcana), Julian Devorak/Original Female Character(s), Julian Devorak/Reader, Portia Devorak/Nadia
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	1. Traitors

Arcana Fantasy

Chapter 1: Traitors

:::

Sirens blare throughout the Vesuvia Power Company’s facilities. Everyone is on the lookout for Dr. Ilya Devorak, a traitor to the company. He’s a fast runner, though, and knows every nook and cranny of the facility. But so does one particular soldier.

Hotaru is the best SOLDIER in Vesuvia, and possibly the whole world. She is a master of both weapons and magic, with a very fierce persona to match. She never fails a mission, and quickly rose in the ranks to become first class.

The doctor escapes to the grounds, surrounded by construction equipment and pallets of concrete and wood. Hotaru is already there to meet him, and jumps from a crane, blocking his path. “Dr. Devorak, you’re under arrest.” She says. He says nothing, jumping up and over a pallet to get away. “Huh, agile for a scientist.” She muses as she follows him. He’s able to turn a few corners and get to the gate, but she catches up to him, throwing her bolas at his feet.

“AH!” He falls to the ground.

“As I was saying, you’re under arrest for treason.” Hotaru shuts the gate so he has nowhere to go.

“Treason, is it? That’s what they’re calling it?” He turns to face her. She’s absolutely stunning, especially for a female SOLDIER: wavy, platinum blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and ruby red eyes full of determination and pride, and glowed orange in the middle with Arcane energy. He shakes his head, remembering his situation.

“Whatever you did, it must have been bad enough for them to call me to arrest you.”

“You weren’t even told what I did?” He shifts to a sitting position. She takes it as a threat and unsheathes her whip sword, pointing it at him.

“What does that matter? I’m a SOLDIER, I follow orders.” She growls. “What you did is not my concern.”

“By God, you’re just like them. Are you hearing yourself?!” The Doctor ignores the sword and holds his head in his hands. “No one believes me! No one else can hear the cries, the screams! I hear them in my sleep, when I’m awake…”

“Cries… in your sleep?” Her eyes are wide; she has been experiencing the same thing for the past month. “How long?”

“At least a month, maybe longer.” He says, looking up at her. “Wait… do you believe me?”

“… Tell me your story first.” She puts her sword down at her side. “What exactly did you do?”

“I’ve done… so many things.” He frowns. “I just wanted to heal people, cure people. All I have done is assist these horrible corporate goons in their demise of the planet.”

“Do you mean President Lucio and the five heads?” She asks.

“Yes.” He hisses. “Especially Dr. Valdemar, since I worked directly under them.” He sighs. “Anyway, I wanted to heal people, and I thought Arcane energy would be the cure to end all diseases. It turns out, while it can have healing properties, it’s more destructive than helpful.”

“And how is that? I was injected with Arcane energy, and I’m fine, better than fine!” All SOLDIERS get injected with it. It’s an initiation of sorts.

“And wasn’t that a torturous experience?” His eyes widen.

“Well, yeah, but I survived, and I’m stronger than ever.”

“Imagine a sickly person being injected with it. They would die a very painful death. We injected animals with it too. Some experiments were a success, but most… we had created monsters. And not just us. Arcane poisoning affects people, animals and plants all over the world, creating monsters and zombies alike. I’m sure you’ve seen it.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that a natural occurrence?”

“After many, many experiments, I can conclude: it isn’t.” The doctor replies. “The planet is crying out in pain, and no one can hear it but me! The screams… especially in there…” He points to the building.

“Where, your lab?” She keeps looking at him in case it is a trick.

“Not just there, deep in the underground part of the building. That’s where they’re kept: the gods of this world, The Arcana.”

“Okay, this is getting ridiculous.” She points the sword at him again. “Gods don’t exist. That’s just something our ancestors made up to explain the flow of life in this world…”

“That’s exactly what I used to think, until a few days ago.” He shakes his head. “I started to hear the screams while I was awake. The further down into the building I went, the louder the screams. I figured they must be in the top secret underground unit. So, I convinced Dr. Valdemar to let me see what’s down there. They comply, and open the door, and there they are, three large, magnificent beings with human-like bodies and animal heads, locked in tubes with wires attached to them. The screams were so loud, I knew it must be them. I was particularly drawn to the one that looked like a raven… I believe through all the screaming I heard his voice asking me to free him. So I did.”

“Is that why you’re being arrested?”

“Yes. I snuck into the basement and opened the tube, and a bright light emerged from his body when I did. Before he flew through the ceiling, he thanked me.”

“That red light… was that…?” She recalls seeing a red light emerge from the roof of the Vesuvia building just an hour ago from the streets.

“Yes. Of course, I didn’t think about any alarms going off or what would happen to my career or life, or even what that will do to the power of this huge city, and here we are.” Doctor Devorak finishes, waving his arm out to the side. “I’m sure other soldiers will come looking for me soon, so what are you going to with me?”

“…” Hotaru considers herself a great judge of character, but she always put her duty before that. She feels like she can’t do that today. She needs to make a plan, quick. She removes the bolas from Julian’s legs and helps him stand up. “Give me your lab coat.”

“Wha-What?” He just stands there, confused.

“Now!” She repeats sternly. He does as he’s told, and she takes her sword and starts cutting it up to ribbons. “Hold out your hand.” He doesn’t question her this time and does it. She slices his palm open with the sword.

“Ow!” He pulls his hand back.

“You’re lucky it’s not your neck. Here.” She throws the coat at him. “Put your blood all over that, and try not to make any handprints.”

“So, you’re sparing me?” He asks as he wipes his blood over the cuts.

“I never fail a mission. I need to make it look like you were taken care of.” She replies. She takes back the coat and rips off the left sleeve. “Here, for your hand.” She gives him the sleeve.

“Oh, uh, thanks… OOF!” As soon as he takes it, he’s pressed against the gate roughly by the SOLDIER.

“You listen well, doctor.” Hotaru sneers. “If you’re lying, I will hunt you down and get rid of you for real. But if you’re telling the truth, well…” They heard footsteps and shouting coming closer. “Get out of here. Pack your things, put on a disguise, and run as far as you can. You got it?”

“Y-Yes…” He says as she lets go of him. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” She smirks at him. He can’t help but blush. He backs away slowly before turning to run. She makes sure he’s out of sight before turning back to the building’s construction site. Vulgora, head of public safety, comes running toward her ahead of the other soldiers.

“Where is that traitorous doctor? Did you kill him?” They ask her.

“No, but some hungry wolf monsters did.” She holds up the bloody lab coat. “This is all that was left after he returned to the planet.”

“Hm…” They take and examine it. “It must have been a painful death. Good.” They grin. “Let’s report this to Dr. Valdemar.”

“Yessir.” Hotaru follows them to the lab, trying hard not to look back for Julian.

:::

“Valdemar!” Vulgora greets the creepy-looking doctor. He’s waiting at the lab entrance.

“Ah, Vulgora.” Valdemar cocks his head to the side. “Has Doctor #69 been taken care of?”

“Yep, dead as a doornail.” He pats his hand hard on Hotaru’s back. “My first-class SOLDIER chased him into a pack of wolf monsters!”

“Well, that’s not exactly what…”

“Good, good. We won’t have to deal with that traitor anymore.” Valdemar interrupts her. “You should be rewarded for your efforts, of course.”

“She will! She’s my best SOLDIER!” He says. “I’ll be off. See you next week during the meeting.”

“Indeed.” Valdemar turns, about to enter the lab.

“E-Excuse me, Doctor.” Hotaru gets the doctor’s attention. “I would be interested to know what Dr. Devorak was working on.”

“Oh, would you?” They cock their head. “And why would a SOLDIER be interested in that?”

“Well, I’ve never been in the lab before…” She pretends to be shy. “Honestly, I’ve always had a fascination for science. When I was little I wanted to be an astronomer.”

“Ah, I see. Childish curiosity. How quaint.” Valdemar presses their fingertips together. “Very well. I think it’s important for SOLDIERS to know what they’re fighting for, anyway. Follow me.” They open the door with a keycard, and they walk inside. The first hallway is a simple enough setup for a science lab: computers, experiment tables, chalkboards. But through the next door is where she starts to see the more questionable things, like sticking people and animals with syringes, and various body parts in jars and tubes. “Do you know where Arcane energy comes from, SOLDIER?”

“Uh… it’s a natural energy source from the planet, right?” She replies.

“Very good, but more specifically, it is the planet’s lifeblood. We take it and create energy for ourselves! It comes in many forms, as well, liquid, gas and solid. It crystallizes into many different types of tiny squares we like to call cards. Some are natural, some are manmade. In liquid form, we inject it into living creatures, however, the process hasn’t been perfected yet. It works well enough on very healthy beings, but not so much for ‘normal’ folks.” They walk by tanks filled with humans.

“Who are they?” She asks.

“Prisoners of war or law. Those who would go against us. Oh, this one’s shifting. Let’s watch.” Valdemar stops in front of the tank to watch a man grow extra limbs from his torso, his body warping and changing into a hideous spider-looking monster, all while screaming in utter pain. “Isn’t that exciting?”

“Uh-huh…” She had no idea the people she worked for did this.

“Come, come, there’s more to see.” They turn the corner. Hotaru sees a beautiful white dog in a cell, looking very sad. “This one’s fascinating. It has not turned into a monster, but has adopted human intelligence through Arcane blood injections.”

“Arcane blood?” She repeats, never hearing this term before.

“Oh yes, another name for Arcane energy.” They turn to her, cocking their head. “Let me quiz you again, my dear. Since you know what Arcane energy is, do you know where it comes from?”

“I-I think it comes from the earth, the planet itself.”

“That is what we tell the public. While we can get it from the earth and sometimes from water sources, there is a main source. 22 main sources, actually. They are called… The Arcana.”

“So, they’re real?” She looks at the dog, who seems to be listening intently.

“Oh yes, very real.” They start to walk again. “We had three here, until that damned Doctor #69 had to release one…” They gritted their teeth. “They’re in the basement.” They nod to the giant elevator in the middle of the room. “I would show them to you, but unfortunately, the area is top secret and now it’s on total lockdown due to the incident; I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course.” Shit, that’s what she really wanted to see.

“They are extremely hard to find.” Valdemar closes their eyes in frustration. “We found out a few years ago that Prakra was housing one, and we went to war to retrieve it.”

“What?” Hotaru raised her voice slightly. “I thought we went to war because they threatened us. I… I thought they started it…”

“No, dearie, that was another lie we told the public. I’m guessing you weren’t a first-class SOLDIER then, were you? If you were, you’d have been on the front lines delivering the first blow.” They smiled. “Oh, but we got their Arcana, and now our city-state is all the better for it! Now we have quick and clean energy.”

“But, is it healthy for the planet?” She asks. Valdemar raises an eyebrow. “We are just taking energy from The Arcana, won’t it run out?”

“Oh, no, don’t be silly.” They wave their hand. “The power these beings wield is unlimited. What’s dangerous is setting them free so they can’t give us anything at all!”

 _No, … … wrong!_ Hotaru hears a voice in her head. _If … … not free, we cannot maintain … balance of this …! We cannot … … true enemy!_ She could only hear so many words through harsh screaming sounds, and it wracked her brain. “Ah!”

“Hm? What is it?” They ask.

“You… don’t hear that?” She looks around.

“No… unless you mean the usual sounds of the machines.”

“…” This must be what Doctor Devorak was hearing. No one else could hear it but him, and now she can too. It sent chills up her spine, anxiety in her chest, and sadness in her heart… she felt like she needed to do something, and she needed to do it now. She needs to think quick, make a decision, and make a plan. “Y-Yeah, that must be it. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your work any longer. I’ll see myself out.”

“Very well. You have a good night.” They turn around and walked away, and Hotaru does the same. She smiles to herself, having successfully stolen the Valdemar’s keycard.

:::

Hotaru goes home to her apartment for the last time after going to the bank to take out all of her money in cash. She packed some essentials in a small backpack, including accessories and plenty of cards. She was going to sacrifice her whole life to saving the planet, even though she might die tonight doing it. She would release the two remaining Arcana locked away in Vesuvia’s company headquarters, and then, if she was successful, track down Doctor Devorak. Maybe they could work together to find a way to save the planet. She would become a fugitive, just like him, and the people of this city might hate her for ridding them of their power supply, but she prepared herself. Honestly, people were afraid of her anyway, so hate was just the next step.

It was one in the morning, and most people that work in the building have gone home. She enters the building easy and no one questions her presence; they figure she must still be investigating Doctor Devorak’s case. She disables the security cameras for the lab. No one sees her as she enters the lab with Valdemar’s keycard and password (she made sure she memorized it). She peeks in, seeing nobody. So far, so good. She walks quickly to the elevator that leads to the underground basement where the Arcana are kept. She swipes the keycard into the slot… but nothing happens.

“What?” She asks herself. She tries again, but still nothing happens. “Damnit, what do I do now?” The elevator’s locked and made of steel, so she can’t manually open it. She eyes a PC terminal and turns it on, trying to find a way to open the elevator. No luck. “Augh!” She slams her fists on the keys. She looks around for other keycards and finds some, running to the elevator and trying those.

“WARNING, WARNING!” Sirens start to go off. “UNDERGROUND BREACH ATTEMPTED. LOCKDOWN COMMENCING. PREPARE ARMS.”

“No, no!” She could hear all the doors lock loudly, trapping her. She ran to the one she came in from, trying the keycard, but it wasn’t working. “Fuck! AANH!” Instead of sirens, she hears the voices of the Arcana, begging her to free them. She couldn’t. She failed, and soldiers would be here any minute to take her out. She falls to the ground, sobbing for the first time in years. “So this is what I get for listening to some legendary gods and a quack doctor?” She turns to see that pretty white dog staring at her with creamy eyes. “What happened to me? Ever since my memory loss, I haven’t been sure of who or what I am. Vulgora tells me that I’m a strong and ruthless SOLDIER, but… it never felt right. Sure, I’m strong, but not ruthless. I’ve just been hiding behind an emotionless façade. And now, just because of some crazy doctor and hearing voices in my head I’m going to lose it all? Oh, that Dr. Devorak, he started all of this.” She takes a deep breath, sighing slowly. “What should I do? Should I give up, or fight?”

“Well, seeing as how you’re awake for the first time, I think you should fight.”

“What?” Hotaru looks at the dog dead in the eyes. “Did… did you just talk?!”

“Of course. You did ask me a question.” The dog smiles.

“Y-Yes, but I didn’t expect you to answer!”

“Vesuvia captured me and experimented on me, giving me great strength and human intelligence.” She says. “You say Dr. Devorak is the reason you’re here?”

“Yeah…”

“He was the only scientist who treated me with respect and sympathy. He too could hear the screams, and did what he thought was right. Now it’s your turn.”

“You… can hear them too?” Hotaru asks, and the dog nods.

“I could hear them before Dr. Devorak could.”

“Ah, White Zero, you’re usually so quiet, yet now you’re telling this traitor everything?” They turn to see Dr. Valdemar, standing on a catwalk covered in Plexiglas way out of reach. “So many traitors in 24 hours; I’m going to have to tighten security even further.”

“YOU are going to come down here and open this elevator, or I’ll make you come down.” Hotaru points her gun at them.

“I’m guessing you didn’t understand me before.” Valdemar shakes their head. “No one is allowed down there right now, not even me. That’s why the card you stole from me doesn’t work.”

“Shit!” She curses herself for being so stupid. Maybe she didn’t think this through as much as she thought. “Well, the least I can do is get rid of you for all your crimes against nature.” She shoots but the bullet doesn’t break the glass.

“You might want to kill him first.” Valdemar presses a button, and the giant tank in the corner opens slowly to reveal a huge monster with a big jaw and sharp teeth, and long arms with big fists.

“You son of a…” Hotaru stops when she realizes they escaped. The monster roars and charges at her. She puts the gun away and pulls out her whip sword. She attacks with her sword and blizzard magic, narrowly dodging attacks from those gigantic fists.

“Human girl, watch out!” The dog yells. Hotaru uses blizzard to temporarily blind her opponent. She gets an idea.

“Hey, can you fight?” She asks the dog.

“Yes, I can!”

“Alright, I’m going to let you out! Stand back!” She grabs her gun again and shoots the control panel, but before the door could open, the monster swings its arms at them, destroying the cell. Hotaru dodges, but is unsure if the dog was safe. “Doggy, are you alright?” There was a beat before the dog jumps out of the rubble, biting the monster’s nose. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She smirks, getting back to the battle. While the monster was distracted, She climbs its arm and chops it off at the shoulder. Black blood shoots out of the wound and the monster roars in pain. “Look out, dog, I’m gonna finish this!” The dog leaps off the monster’s face and Hotaru wraps her whip sword around its neck, pulling hard as she lands on the floor, the sword retracting and the monster’s ugly head rolls on the ground.

“Excellent fighting, human.” The dog says.

“Oh, thanks.” Hotaru hears the door open.

“There they are, get them!” A troop leader shouts at his dozen men, aiming their weapons at them.

“Great, they opened the door!” Hotaru smiles, turning to the dog. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Agreed.” It was easy to barrel through a couple of men after fighting a monster. They ran into the hall.

“This way!” Hotaru leads the dog to the maintenance stairs, which are very narrow and no one ever takes them. After many flights of stairs, they get to the underground garage. “There are some new motorcycles down here that are from the showcase. Let’s grab one with a sidecar.” They find one, brand new and a shiny red color. “Ever been in one of these before?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Just hold on tight.” She says, revving the engine before taking off. She drove past several guards, shouting and scrambling to go after her. Some of them were already on bikes and were catching up quickly. “Here, use this.” She hands the dog a fire card. The dog takes it and feels its energy surge through her, shooting fire from her mouth at the biked soldiers. “You keep doing that; I’ll get the ones on this side.” Bikes flank them, but they attack, and one by one the soldiers fell. They reach the bottom of the winding highway. “Hold on.” Hotaru drives off the highway and onto a dirt road, hiding behind a hill. They sit there quietly until they hear motorcycle engines zoom by past them.

“I believe they’re far enough away now.” The dog says.

“Good.” Hotaru unclenches. “We can finally relax, at least for a bit. We’re in between Sectors 4 and 5… ugh, I wonder which way Dr. Devorak went.”

“Allow me to find out.” The dog leaps out of the sidecar, sniffing the ground and the air. “He went that way, to the northwest. He’s really not that far ahead, either.”

“… Okay, so, you can smell him from that far away? That’s incredible.” She replies. “You’re not the average talking dog, are you?”

“All of my senses were heightened due to the experiments.” The dog sits. “At first, it was overwhelming, but I’ve learned to cope with it. I’m sure you can relate, as you’ve undergone Arcane energy experiments, too.”

“Yeah…” She nods. “I just realized in all this commotion, I never told you my name. It’s Hotaru.”

“That’s a good name.” The dog says.

“What was it that Dr. Valdemar called you? White Zero? Is that really your name?”

“No, that’s just a subject identifier.” She growls under her breath. “I don’t really have a name, not one that humans can pronounce, anyway.”

“Oh, well… how about we figure out a new name for you?” Hotaru asks.

“A new name?” The dog’s eyes shimmer. “That sounds nice.”

“Hmm… how about… Blanca?”

“Uh, no.”

“Blanche?”

“No.” The dog says a little louder.

“Alright, stay away from white names, then.” She shrugs. “We’ll figure it out as we move along. That is, if you want to come with me.”

“Tell me, Hotaru, what is your motivation now that you are a wanted person?” The dog asks, cocking her head. “What is your goal?”

“… Huh, you know I thought a lot about this in the time allotted, but it still doesn’t seem real… my life hasn’t felt real for a considerable amount of time.” She looks at her hands. “But I’ve decided. I’m going to free the rest of the Arcana, and I hope that the doctor will join me as well. It’s going to be a tough journey, but I’ve faced tough journeys before and came through, so what’s one more?”

“Hm…” The dog nods. “Very well, I will join you on your quest. My goal is the same. I can be your tracker.”

“Tracker…” Hotaru snaps her fingers. “Hey, since you’re good at tracking, how about ‘Scout’ as your name?”

“Scout…” She thinks for a moment, then smiles. “I like that very much.”

“Scout it is!” Hotaru smiles too, feeling like she hasn’t done that in a while. “Let’s find a place to camp. We’ll go into town in the morning.”


	2. Revolution

Arcana Fantasy

Chapter 2: Revolution

:::

Hotaru and Scout head to the Sector 5 slums for breakfast. Sector 5 is a quiet place, their biggest draw being the orphanage and an abandoned church. “I do believe Doctor Devorak is in Sector 6, only thirty minutes away.”

“That’s a pretty good place for someone to blend in, but I did tell him to get far away from here. I thought he’d at least be in the next town by now.” Hotaru finishes her egg sandwich. “I hope he’ll be alright.”

“Are we going to him right away?”

“No. You need equipment, and I need a disguise.” She looks down at herself. “I stick out pretty easily with my SOLDIER uniform.”

“Equipment? Do they even sell anything for dogs?” Scout asks.

“You’d be surprised.” Hotaru says. “But I’m going to get a full makeover first. I’m going to change my hair, my clothes, and get a tattoo. SOLDIERS aren’t allowed to have tattoos or crazy hairstyles.”

“You sound so excited.”

“I am. It’s a new me, you know?” She leans forward. “What about you? Besides equipment, is there anything you want to change?”

“No thank you.” Scout didn’t even have to think about it. “Now that I’m free, I finally get to be myself, and I’ll wear my scars with pride.”

“Scars?” Hotaru asks. The white dog stands on the table, showing her stomach that was covered in scars and track marks. “My God…”

“At least they were kind enough to keep my fur intact.” She steps down.

“At least.” Hotaru grimaces. “Well, let’s get started. I’ll get new clothes first.”

:::

And so they spent the whole day shopping. Hotaru changed her SOLDIER uniform to something more colorful: deep red harem pants and an orange crop top, and switching the studs out for crescent moon earrings. She had her hair dyed in fiery colors as well, but only the underside. She cut a few inches off, and let it hang just below her shoulders, letting be its natural, wavy self. The tattoo she received was just a simple Celtic band. She kept all of her weapons at her hips. Scout got a brown collar, a comb and wrist guards, all of which had plenty of slots for cards. “I’m amazed that you can use cards. I’ve never seen an animal use them before.”

“My kind is capable of using them. We’ve trained with them ourselves.” Scout likes her new accessories.

“I collect a lot of cards. You can have these.” Hotaru gives her mostly elemental cards, and Scout thanks her. “I wonder if Doctor Devorak needs any for himself…”

“You seem to believe whole-heartedly that the good doctor will join us.” Scout points out. “What if he doesn’t? What if he says no?”

“… I didn’t think about that… I did almost kill him.” She says. “I just hope that he will… after all, we’re after the same thing.”

:::

They get to Sector 6 on the stolen bike. It’s very lively here, especially now that the sun has gone down. This is the city’s red light district, so what happens here, stays here. “So many disgusting smells…” Scout sniffs the air.

“Can you find him?” Hotaru asks.

“Of course.” She replies. “My nose is the best.” She leads the way, going down narrow street after narrow street, until they find a bar right in the center of town. “He’s in there. His scent reeks of alcohol.”

“Great.” Hotaru looks around, finding an alleyway around the corner. “Go wait over there, I’ll bring him out.”

“Very well.” Scout trots off, and Hotaru takes a deep breath. She hopes she can convince him to join her. She walks inside and sees the doctor, bent over the bar in front of four empty jugs and one full one in his hand. This might be harder than she thought. She walks over to the bar and sits down next to him.

“Buy me a drink, Doctor?” She says in a sultry voice. The doctor raises his head, looking this beautiful woman up and down, only to realize that it’s the strongest SOLDIER in Vesuvia.

“It’s you.” He whispers, eyes widening before letting out a sad snicker. “So, are you…?”

“I’m not here to kill you.” She shakes her head.

“O-Oh.” He’s surprised.

“Let’s go out back and talk.” She gets up from the bar and he hesitantly follows. “I brought a friend with me.”

“A friend?” They go outside around the corner. There happened to be a small table with two chairs for them to sit. Scout was guarding it, and she perks up when she sees the Doctor. “White Zero! You’re free.” He scratches her ears and her tail wags.

“Hotaru was the one to set me free, Doctor.” She explains. “And she named me Scout.”

“Scout… I like that.” He looks up at Hotaru, who has already taken a seat. He clears his throat, sitting down, too. “So, if you’re not here to kill me, that means you believe me. But why are you here?”

“First of all, yes, I believe you.” She starts. “After I walked into that forsaken lab, I started hearing the voices while awake.”

“So you did… I figured but still wasn’t sure you could hear them in your dreams after the way you acted.” He leans in.

“I tried going back to the lab later and release The Arcana, but I couldn’t get into the basement, and Dr. Valdemar caught me and released a huge monster from the pod. I rescued Scout and we escaped. But I failed to rescue The Arcana.”

“You’re a fugitive now.” He shakes his head. “I can’t help but feel guilty about it.”

“Don’t. I made the decision to do this, you didn’t force me.” She says. “After seeing what I saw in that lab and listening to what Dr. Valdemar said about the war being under false pretenses, I will never want to work for Vesuvia again.”

“Understood, but you still haven’t told me why you’re here, specifically seeking me out.”

“We want you to join us on our quest.” Scout intervenes.

“And what quest is that?” Doctor Devorak sounded like he already knew the answer.

“We must free all of The Arcana.” Hotaru states. “We must find them before Vesuvia does.”

“Heh, right.” He rubs the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. “That is an impossible quest. Something like that could take decades, lifetimes… do you know how big the world is?”

“You’re forgetting one thing.” She smirks. “We can hear them. Vesuvia cannot.”

“Yes, but they have resources, agents, and loads of money.”

“Yet with all of those things, they could only find three of The Arcana.”

“And it would just be the three of us?”

“We could find more people to join us. I’m sure there’re plenty of people who hate Vesuvia.”

“Yes, most of the people on the ground hate them.” He rubs his head.

“Believe me, I know all of this is crazy.” Hotaru says. “The three of us don’t fully get what’s happening, but I think we have a gut feeling telling us we need to do this.” She rests her hand on his. He can’t help but blush a little. “So, are you in?”

“…” He thinks for a minute, then lets out a huge sigh. “Well, it’s not like I have anything else to do. I’m in.”

“Great. Let’s get started tomorrow after a good rest.” She smiles. “Hopefully you won’t be hungover.”

“Please, just that small amount I drank won’t even give me a headache.” He scoffs. “Follow me, I’m staying at a hotel not far from here.”

:::

“Here we are, ladies first.” The Doctor escorts them into the small hotel. The clerk greets them. “Do you have an extra room for these ladies?” He asks the clerk.

“What’s wrong with us staying in your room?” Hotaru asks. “Is it too small?”

“Oh, uh, well, no…” He stutters. “I just figured that… since you’re a woman…”

“Don’t be silly. If the three of us can stay in a room together, then we should to save money.” She pats his shoulder. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that he is leaning into the small touch.

“R-Right, that makes sense.” He looks at the clerk, who gives him a teasing look. “The room’s this way.” The room is small but surprisingly has two sets of bunk beds.

“Oh, I haven’t slept on a bed in years.” Scout muses. “I wonder if I’ll even be able to.”

“Of course you will. You’ll fall asleep instantly.” Hotaru says. “You get the bottom bunk, and I’ll take the top.” She takes off her weapons and hangs them off the end of the bed.

“What an insane couple of days this has been.” He says, taking off his huge black jacket, shirt and boots. “I sure hope you realize what you’re doing, ex-SOLDIER.” His white undershirt shows off quite a bit of cleavage. Hotaru tries not to stare.

“I know a good place to start, Doctor.” She takes off her shoes too. Scout has already made a nest out of the blankets and curled up in it.

“Oh please, call me Julian.” He says.

“Julian?” She queries. “I thought your first name was… uh, what was it?”

“Exactly. It’s too hard to remember and pronounce.” He waves his hand. “Julian is easier.”

“That’s right, you’re from Nevivon. They do have a difficult language.”

“How did you…?”

“It was on the dossier for your assassination.”

“Oh, yeah.” He recalls that fateful night. “And you are Miss Hotaru, the most fearsome SOLDIER in Vesuvia.”

“Just Hotaru will do.” She smirks, climbing the ladder to the top bunk. “As for fearsome, well… I’m trying to work on that.”

“I see.” Julian replies, sitting on his bottom bunk.

“You said you knew of a good place to start, Hotaru.” Scout interjects, opening one eye. “Where exactly is that?”

“The Sector 7 neighborhood watch.” She replies. “They’re actually mercenaries, so they know a lot about what goes on in their community.”

“Mercenaries?” He repeats, sounding worried.

“They’re good people, though, don’t be scared.” She says, yawning. “Let’s get a good night’s sleep. I’m sure sleeping in beds will be few and far between on this journey.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” Julian asks rhetorically, flopping down on the bed and praying that he got good sleep tonight.

:::

_Hotaru… Hotaru… you’ve been asleep for so long, dear. It’s time to get up._

“It’s time to get up.” Scout says quietly, nudging Hotaru’s hand.

“Mmm, oh…” She stirs awake. “Hey, did I oversleep?”

“No, in fact I think Julian and I under-slept.”

“That’s a usual thing for me.” Julian says in the background, putting on his boots. “Even before the whole Arcana thing.”

“Yeah, well… if I don’t have an alarm then I don’t wake up.” Hotaru stretches and sits up. “I actually didn’t dream about the Arcana last night.”

“What did you dream of? Something nice?” He asks.

“I… think so.” She wasn’t sure. There were no visuals, only a nice, motherly voice. Maybe she was having a subconscious dream about her past. She then wonders if she should tell Julian about her missing memories. She told Scout but she did that before she knew that the dog could talk. She decides to keep it to herself for now. Maybe it’ll come up later. She yawns again. “Well, I’m starved. Let’s eat and get going.”

:::

After breakfast, they went to the edge of the sector to find their ride. “This is… one of the show vehicles from the headquarters. You stole it?” Julian’s eyes widen.

“Well, excuse us for needing to get away so we wouldn’t get killed.” Hotaru rolls her eyes as she gets on, revving up the engine. Julian was about to get in the sidecar but Scout beat him to it. He looks at them awkwardly. “What are you waiting for? Get on.” She points behind herself with her thumb. “Or are you scared of motorcycles?”

“No, not… not that…” He slowly slips behind Hotaru, obviously being so close and not knowing what to do with his hands.

“Hold on tight to me, Julian.” She is starting to get the impression that Julian is afraid to touch people, or maybe just her. He’s either disgusted or attracted to her, but she had a feeling it was the latter. She smirks and starts to drive, making Julian throw his arms tightly around her waist. Her hair blew in his face and he would spit it out once in a while. “So the first thing we’re going to do when we get to Sector 7 is get you some gear. You’re completely bare, no weapon, no accessories…”

“I’m not one to think of such things, unfortunately. I am a doctor and a scientist, not a warrior.” He says, just now noticing all of Scout’s pretty accessories.

“So, you’ve never been in a fight? Never held a weapon in your hands?”

“I have wielded a sword in my youth as a pirate, but I wasn’t very good…”

“You were a pirate?! That’s awesome!” She looks back at him in awe.

“Well, more like I was forced to be the designated doctor aboard a pirate ship or else I would be killed.”

“I see.” She sighs. “This journey we’re on will have many battles, so it looks like I’m going to have to teach you how to fight.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” He murmurs.

“Hey, I can’t be babysitting you, Doctor. You must learn how to at least protect yourself.”

“I sense enemies approaching!” Scout sits up in the car. “Ten o’ clock.”

“Bad timing.” Hotaru stops the bike, seeing three Wrath Hounds jump from the factory ruins and land in front of them. “Stay on the bike, Julian.”

“A-Alright…” He watches as she hops off, drawing her whip sword. Scout gets out too, barking at the hounds with primal energy. Hotaru casts Blizzard upon her sword to make it ice cold before slashing through the hounds with little effort. Her sword defies the laws of physics, unhinging each individual vertebrae with one flick of the wrist and cutting up the hounds piece by piece with fancy spins, almost as if she was dancing. Such speed and grace… he has never seen anyone fight like that. She releases her limit break and the hounds fall, returning to the planet. “Whoa…” Was all he could say.

“Oh, that was nothing.” She puts her sword away. Scout licks blood off her mouth. Julian is brought back to reality by that, looking away and cringing. “What is it?”

“It’s just…” He sighs heavily. “I’m a doctor. I swore an oath to never kill. And now you want me to…” He didn’t finish. She looks at Scout with a face, wondering how the hell she got stuck with this idiot man.

“Well, think of it this way…” Hotaru walks up to him. “These monsters are contaminated by Vesuvia’s syphoning of the planet, right? Their existence is pain, so… we’re sending them back to the planet, to maybe get a better chance at life next time. And with us on the job…” She puts her hand on his shoulder. “That next time will be soon.”

“That is a very hopeful statement, Hotaru.” He looks at her with sad eyes. “You seem to be able to find the positives in everything.”

“Here’s another one for you.” She gets on the bike in front of him. “I hope that some of it rubs off on you.” She turns to Scout, who hops back in the car. “Sense any other enemies?”

“Not for miles.” Scout looks around, sniffing the air.

“Great, let’s go.” She starts up the engine, making him once again grab her waist as tight as he could. She snickers.

:::

They made it to Sector 7, a lively place full of honest and hard workers. The people are also not too fond of Vesuvia, which makes it a good place to hide out. The weapon shop here is also pretty high quality for the slums. They walk the streets, hearing laughter and smelling beer as they walk by the bar. A cat is perched on the bar’s railing, and Scout growls at it menacingly. “Whoa, easy there, Scout.” Hotaru touches her head gently.

“My apologies.” Scout blinks a few times. “Sometimes I find my base instincts come out when faced with prey.”

“Save it for the monsters and Vesuvia, girl.” Julian rubs the cat’s ear as they walk by. “These creatures are still untainted by the Arcana’s blood.”

“I will try.” Scout makes herself ignore the cat.

“So Julian…” Hotaru turns to him, and he looks nervous. “You wielded a sword before.”

“Yes, but like I said, I wasn’t very good…”

“Did it feel natural to hold a sword?”

“Wh-What do you mean?” He asks, confused.

“I believe that when a person holds a weapon in their hands, and feel its weight and strength, they should be able to sense that it will work for them, and become an extension of their own strength.”

“That is awfully profound for simple weapon wielding.” Scout interjects.

“I agree.” He looks down at her waist strap. She has that wacky sword, a pistol, bolas, and an actual whip, not to mention all the cards she puts in each weapon and carries in her backpack. “So I guess all of these weapons called to you?”

“Mostly this one.” She pats the whip sword. “It just felt right in my hand, and has become an extension of myself.”

“Well swords don’t seem to do it for me, then.” He sighs.

“How’s your magic?” She asks him.

“My what?”

“Magic? Are you good at it? Have you mastered any cards?” She elaborated.

“Oh, no… I’ve studied them extensively, but never used them myself.”

“We… have a lot of work to do.” She inhales through her nose. They reach the weapons shop, stepping inside to see a whole display of different weapons and accessories on the wall. They were quite expensive.

“Ah, I just realized…” Julian pats his wallet. “I don’t have the money for this.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Hotaru says. “Since we’re a party, my money is our money.”

“That’s… way too kind.” He mumbles.

“We’ll be making money by doing mercenary work, as well, so you can pay me back. How’s that sound?”

“That’s a better idea.” He nods.

“What can I do ya for, strangers?” The blacksmith says, placing his hands on the counter.

“We want to try out everything.” Hotaru leans in. “It’s his first.”

“Don’t say it like that!” He whisper-shouts.

“I see.” The blacksmith smirks and nods. He turns around and starts taking weapons off the wall and placing them on the counter.

“How about a gun?” Hotaru picks up a 3-barrel handgun. “Easy and simple to use.”

“Yeah, with years of target practice.” He scoffs at it. “I’m not a fan.”

“Right, you’re a doctor, so you like cutting people instead of just shooting them.”

“That’s not…!”

“Here.” She picks up the spear, carefully handing it to him. “How does that feel?”

“Hm… it’s top-heavy.” He backs up to get more space, swinging it around. “It’s the same problem I had with a sword.”

“And that is what, specifically?” Scout says, making sure she’s out of the way of his swinging.

“It’s… hard to explain.” He knits his eyebrows together. “Like, I’m using two hands for one weapon, and it feels unnatural. Like I want more freedom, you know?”

“Hmm…” Hotaru thinks for a moment, perusing the weapons. She sees a dagger on the counter, and another on the wall. The one on the counter is straight, and the one on the wall is curved. “Blacksmith, could you hand me that curved dagger there?”

“Of course.” He takes it off the wall and hands her the dagger while she picks up the other one.

“Two weapons when I can barely handle one?” Julian carefully puts the spear down.

“The curved dagger is for defense.” Hotaru explains. “Daggers are very easy weapons to use, and they have plenty of freedom for your hands. You can attack from any angle, and block from any angle.” She demonstrates some moves, defending with the curved dagger and attacking with the straight one. Then, she hands them both to Julian. He takes them, immediately enjoying the feel, crossing them over his chest.

“I think these are calling to me.” He smiles.

“Great.” Hotaru turns to the blacksmith. “We’ll take those, and some accessories to boost defense.” The blacksmith hands her some metal forearm guards and a leather choker. Neither item had many card slots, but since he didn’t know how to use them, it didn’t matter. She equips Julian and they head out of the store. “Now we’re all set to meet the mercenaries.”

“Well, you two might be.” He struggles to sheathe the daggers. “Shouldn’t I get some training?”

“We’ll choose an easy job to start with and use that as training.” She explains. “Oh, and before I forget…” She hands him a cure card.

“I told you, I don’t…”

“I’m going to teach you.” She cuts him off. “I have a hundred of these, so don’t worry about it. Since you’re a doctor, cure is the best one to start with, wouldn’t you say?”

“… I guess so.” He takes it and puts it in the guard dagger.

“Great. Take care of it, and it’ll get stronger.” She says.

:::

The three of them find the mercenary bar. Tough guys sit outside, smoking, drinking and whetting their blades. A scoreboard written in chalk hung on the wall with names and numbers, possibly kill counts. “I didn’t know Sector 7 had such a rowdy place.” Julian murmurs.

“Follow my lead.” Hotaru sits at a table and her party members do the same. Soon, a burly man with scars all over comes up to their table.

“You lot are new around here.” He studies them efficiently. “What’ll ya have?”

“We want our names on the wall.” Hotaru says, smirking.

“Oh yeah?” The scarred man looks at each of them. “Don’t look so tough to me. We take our work seriously ‘round here.”

“Then you should take us seriously.” She crosses her legs. “Let us show you what we’re made of.”

“Hmm…” The man smiles, liking the confidence. “Alright, I’ll give you simple one. The Wererats have been bothering us again, stealing our food. Take them out, and if you find their leader, you get a bonus.”

“Sounds perfect. We’ll take it.” She says. “Which way?”

“The old construction site.” He points towards a big chain-link fence to the west. “Hope you come back in one piece.”

“Thanks.” They get up from the table. Julian is the last to get up, worried about these ‘Wererats’. The party of three head for the gate and enter the abandoned construction site.

“So, Wererats, huh?” Julian asks nervously. “I’ve… never seen one of them before.”

“I’m surprised. They’re pretty common.” Hotaru pats his shoulder. “Don’t be scared. They’re only as big as Scout, and they’re easy to kill.”

“I smell their musk.” Scout murmurs. “They’re everywhere.”

“Everywhere?” He repeats in a higher pitch.

“Okay, Julian, lesson number one.” Hotaru pulls out her sword. “Always be on guard and aware of your surroundings. Be aware of the people and creatures in all directions. Open your ears, eyes, and nose. Do you hear anything right now?” They stay quiet for a moment and listen.

“Rustling…” He whispers, turning around to see a huge trash pile. “From there.”

“Very good. See anything?”

“A piece of trash falling on the right side.”

“And that’s the direction we’ll be going.” She points at Julian’s daggers. “Take those out.”

“Ah, right.” He unsheathes them.

“I won’t go over boring details since everybody knows how to stab things, but just stay focused on a single target for now. When you get better, you can try concentrating on multiple targets.” She says, and right on cue the Wererat jumps out from behind the garbage pile, squealing angrily and drooling from between sharp teeth.

“Ooo, okay…” Julian got in a fighting stance. “Block with the left and attack with the right.”

“Don’t think too hard about it, just go for it!” Hotaru roots for him.

“If he gets in too much danger, we’ll help him, right?” Scout whispers.

“Of course.” Hotaru smirks. They watch the doctor swipe at the giant rat, and he was dodging more than blocking. He got some good hits in, but missed the last one and the rat’s teeth grazed his arm. “Ooo, careful there!”

“R-Right.” He’s definitely felt worse pain than that, so it was no big deal. But he needed to focus on this rat… and maybe try something different. He collected his energy and swung both daggers outward, slicing the rat in two with a rush of energy that seemed to come out of nowhere. “Whoa, what was that?”

“That was a limit.” Hotaru replies. “You build up magic energy in your body, and when you’re in the heat of battle, it releases with a powerful technique. Though I’m surprised that happened after your first fight.”

“I probably had a lot of tension in my body before this fight.” He turns his attention to the cut on his arm. “And, now I’m assuming you want me to try curing myself.”

“Uh-huh.” She says. “It’s really easy. The card already knows what to do. All you have to do is command it to heal you.”

“Sure. Easy.” He looks at the small card in his dagger. “Oh, magic card, please heal me.” Nothing happened.

“No, no, command it! Just say, heal or cure.”

“… Heal!” He tries, and it actually works, the card glowing green and green energy closes his wound. “Well, that is easy. Though, I kind of prefer the old-fashioned way of healing.”

“You mean antiseptic and bandages?”

“Yes, simpler times.” He seems to be reminiscing something.

“Using cards doesn’t hurt the planet, right?” Scout asks.

“No, not from what I’ve researched.” Julian says, shaking his head. “I believe these little things were given to us by the Arcana, as a way to use their powers without taking directly from their bodies.”

“What a lovely sentiment.” Hotaru says. Suddenly, they hear more rustling from the trash piles, and several more Wererats show up, including a bigger, uglier one with a green cape and a plastic crown. “Well, look who decided to show his face.”

“Their leader?” Julian puts his daggers up.

“He must have smelled fresh meat.” She jokes, and Scout snickers as well.

“Hey!” He pouts.

“Let’s get him, team.” Hotaru leads her party into battle.

:::

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This took a while, eh? Probably because I get no views, no bookmarks and no comments. If people told me they’re excited for more, then I’d give them more sooner. This website is dead, but I don’t see any other place to post my fics. If anybody has any recommendations, please give them to me.

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason my Arcana fanfiction is not very popular. I didn't finish Phantom of the Arcana for that reason. I would finish it if people would just comment. Kudos honestly mean nothing to me. It's when you comment that really motivates me to finish. I hope this will turn things around. I've been dealing with writer's block and it took me a long time to write this one chapter, but depending on the feedback, I can be motivated to continue. Thank you,
> 
> Taru-chan


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